Wayne Rooney may have been staunchly defended by England coach Roy Hodgson after the opening 2-1 defeat by Italy in the World Cup, but his performance attracted criticism from former top players and coaches.

Wayne Rooney struggled to exert his influence on the game. Photo: AFP

Some like former England coach Graham Taylor made allowances for him being played out of position wide on the left by Hodgson while others were less charitable with former England midfielder Alan Mullery calling for the 28-year-old to be dropped.

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Mullery echoed comments made by Rooney's former Manchester United teammate Paul Scholes, who before the World Cup had queried whether he had already peaked and faced a struggle to get into the first team.

The main criticism of Rooney's performance revolved not around his play going forward, as he created England's best chances and had three shots at goal - the most along with Raheem Sterling - but how he often left Leighton Baines exposed at the back.

World Cup 2014: England v Italy match highlights

While Rooney has insisted he is happy out on the left it is a significant change of opinion since he objected to being put there under former United manager Alex Ferguson.

Scholes, who attracted a fair amount of criticism for his remarks, was kinder to Rooney in his blog for bookmakers Paddy Power on Sunday.

"The disappointing thing was not the way Wayne Rooney played but where he was played," Scholes wrote.

"I don't blame Wayne one little bit but he was played in three different positions. He's without a doubt England's best goalscorer but he was played on the left, played on the right, then in the centre.

"Where's the confidence in Wayne to say: 'You're our main player. You're our centre forward'? If he plays there, he scores goals."

Taylor, who coached England from 1990 to 1993 guiding them to the Euro 92 finals but was sacked when they failed to reach the 1994 World Cup, said that Rooney's performance had been not up to the standards expected of him but he was not solely to blame for that.

"I think when you are a player of Wayne Rooney's quality and you don't match those high standards, you are going to get criticised," said Taylor, who is working for the BBC as a pundit.

Meanwhile Britain's famously raucous press largely held off from delivering the torrent of vitriol that usually follows an England tournament defeat, finding optimism in a "thrilling" World Cup encounter with Italy.

"For England, this was a strange kind of World Cup defeat," wrote Martin Samuel of the Daily Mail.

"This time there will be few recriminations, no grand inquest, little soul-searching, no official or lay examination of what is rotten in our game.

The Sunday Times said England had lost a "battle of age and culture".

"Italy were a dish too hot and a gang too cool for England," wrote Jonathan Northcroft.

"England were beaten but should stay emboldened, for Hodgson's decision to start with youngsters such as Raheem Sterling and bring Ross Barkley off the bench pushed Italy all the way.

The Daily Telegraph's Henry Winter wrote that England had taken a step towards a more sophisticated era.

"England have been to too many tournaments and been lifeless, fearful and gone home early," he wrote.

"England may be thrown out of this magnificent World Cup party prematurely but at least they are having a go, playing with a zest not seen in more sterile recent tournaments. England lost a game but gained some friends."